Blaine at Centennial
7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10

A meeting between two of the Northwest Suburban Conference’s more storied programs, this game has likely been circled on the calendar for a while by both sides.

Blaine is coming off an impressive 4-3 overtime victory Saturday night at No. 5-2A Edina and is bound to be moving up in the polls after its 4-0 start. The No. 6-2A Bengals are averaging 6.5 goals per game and feature perhaps the the state's best 1-2 offensive combo in seniors Riley Tufte and Luke Notermann, who combine to average nearly five goals a game. Tufte, a Minnesota-Duluth recruit, is a projected first-round draft choice in next spring’s NHL Entry Draft.

Centennial (2-1) has wins over Anoka (7-4 on Dec. 5) and Champlin Park (6-0 on Nov. 28). Edina has the lone win this far over the No. 16-2A Cougars, who fell to the Hornets 4-1 on Dec. 3. Senior forward Stephen Heron, who had his team’s only score against Edina, leads the team with three goals. 

This will be a solid early test for Centennial, which has the ambition and the talent to make its third state tournament in the last four years, having missed out last year. Tyler Nyman, last year’s top point producer (11-23-34), returns for the Cougars and leads the team in total points with five (2-3-5).

Thursday’s game in Circle Pines is the first of two meetings during conference play, with the rematch scheduled for Jan. 14 in Blaine. Last year, the Bengals earned the sweep, but both games were decided by one goal.